


The Language of Flowers

by RishiDiams



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Language of Flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1473964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RishiDiams/pseuds/RishiDiams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The prompt was: doctor/rose, "I think in the language of flowers, you just insulted me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Language of Flowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [larxenethefirefly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/larxenethefirefly/gifts).



"I think in the language of flowers, you just insulted me," he said, holding the bouquet of flowers she'd just handed him a bit away from his body. They'd spent two days in Victorian London hunting down a shapeshifter that liked to eat flowers and quickly became immersed in the culture.

Rose's eyes widened in horror. "No, no, no, no, no. I spent three bloody hours researching..." She trailed off when she realized what she'd inadvertently admitted. Though, in truth, if he understood enough about the language of flowers to know she'd bollocksed it, then he also knew what her message was supposed to have been. "All right then, if you're such a genius, you tell me what it actually says."

He barely held back a smirk as he pointed to the first type of flower in the bouquet. "The Guelder Rose. It means 'age', so I can only imagine you meant to call to mind the excessively large difference in our ages."

She rolled her eyes. "It was the only white rose they had."

"Evening primrose: inconstancy."

" _Evening_ primrose? Funny, the lady in the shop didn't mention that."

He stopped hiding the smirk, and Rose was nearly overwhelmed by the urge to upend the whole bouquet onto his hair.

His finger moved to the single red rose in the middle. "And a dark crimson rose for mourning." His eyes shuttered for the briefest of moments.

"That rose is red and you know it."

His smirk blossomed into a full teasing smile. He even touched his tongue to his teeth the same way she sometimes did.

Rose snatched the bouquet out of his hands, tears pricking at her eyes. "Fine. It was just a stupid idea anyway, I should have known you'd take the piss."

The Doctor grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. "Where are you going?"

"To throw these in the face of the woman who sold them to me."

He lifted the bouquet away from her with far more care than she'd used to take it from him. "I don't think so. You see, you gave them to me, so that makes them mine."

"Come off it, Doctor. It's over. You win. I thought maybe -- but I'll just drop it."

"Rose," he said, the word itself a call to attention, "don't drop it. Did you want the bridal rose or just a white one?"

The butterflies in her stomach that had abated after she'd picked out the specific flowers to give him took flight again. "Bridal."

He nodded. "Combined with a red rose, the two symbolize unity."

"Yeah. I know."

"And primrose, really? You'd do just fine without me, and you know it. I'm the one lost without you." He turned the bouquet from left to right. "All in all, it's not bad. Could use a little work. See, if I were to give you a bouquet like this I'd have to add a yellow rose."

"For friendship," she huffed. "I get the idea, Doctor, you don't have to rub it in."

"You didn't let me finish," he admonished gently. "Yellow roses also mean 'I'm not worthy.' And I'm not, Rose, I'm really not, but you seem incapable of seeing that. Not that it matters," he added when she opened her mouth to argue, "because the other two flowers I'd have to add are Ambrosia and Gloxinia."

Rose's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't know those two."

"'Your love is reciprocated,' and it was 'love at first sight.'"

Hours later they laughed as they walked hand-in-hand back to the florist's to get a replacement bouquet for the one they'd crushed between them. When they returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor sprayed the flowers with some kind of chemical that would keep them fresh for as long as their love would last: forever.


End file.
